January 26

In celebrations of the launch of the original MacVenture Series, you can pick up Shadowgate (2014) now for only $4.99!

Shadowgate is the completely reimagined and updated version of the beloved classic. Now you can play the original Shadowgate in all of it's glory along with three other groundbreaking games: Deja Vu, Deja Vu II and Uninvited:

Reviews

“If you are a fan of the genre, looking for something difficult to tackle, or wondering why you haven’t played Shadowgate in 30 years, absolutely pick this up.”
8/10 – GameZone

“Shadowgate will offer you a journey into darkness, and an adventure unlike anything you have experienced in a long time.”
8/10 – Adventuregamers.com

“This new Shadowgate is a superlative remake that should stand as a great example of how to take a cult classic and update it for both new and nostalgic audiences.”
9/10 – leviathyn.com

What does the Special Edition include?

NES Ringtones Available!

About This Game

Shadowgate is one of the most well-known and beloved point-and-click adventure titles in gaming history. As one of the original titles in the popular MacVenture series that went on to be celebrated on the NES, GBC, and Nintendo 64, Shadowgate quickly endeared players with its fantastic atmospheric soundtrack, perilous locations to progress through, countless puzzles to solve, and more ways to gruesomely die than gamers previously thought possible. Thrust into the role of "The Seed of Prophecy," players travel deep into the living castle, in hopes of defeating the evil that dwells within – the dreaded Warlock Lord.

Now, nearly 30 years after the original version haunted Mac and NES gamers, the original development team behind that timeless classic is back with a full re-imagining of the original Shadowgate. Much more than a port, the team at Zojoi has painstakingly redesigned the game from the ground up, adding in tons of new mind-bending puzzles, lots of new rooms with stunning hand-painted 2D graphical detail, and more objects to interact with and help you along your quest.

Decide how YOU want to play this new, re-imagined Shadowgate! Want the modern adventure experience? Use the wheel-based icon command system. Want the retro experience? Employ the Classic command system and turn on the retro graphics, soundtrack, text box, and room transitions. Want a more cinematic experience? Switch to Immersive mode by auto-hiding the UI and using customizable hotkeys to explore the castle. Or mix and match the options to satisfy your play style. In Shadowgate, there are plenty of new features and fun throwbacks to the original version to satisfy veteran adventurers and newcomers alike!

Key Features

Customized UI: Play the way you want! Use modern wheel-based icon commands, classic on-screen commands, or jump into Immersive mode to auto-hide the UI elements. Create key binds, lock commands and keys, and more.

The Dread Pumpkin Quest: A new mini-quest, find and free the Dread Pumpkin!

Dangerous Dungeons: Tons of beautifully illustrated rooms featuring both new and familiar locations, offering a new gameplay experiences.

Mind-bending Puzzles: Lots of new and updated puzzles that seamlessly expand on the original game.

Difficulty Levels: Four different difficulty levels (from the novice to expert) that actually change the gameplay experience and puzzle structure. For the ultimate challenge, try Ironman mode that disables saves and requires players to finish the game in one try.

Retro Mode: Play the game like it’s 1989! Toggle on pixelated graphics, listen to Hiroyuki Masuno’s original NES chip tunes, move between rooms with NES transitions, and enjoy the text in retro format.

Storytelling: Shadowgate features dramatic cut-scenes and all the same great storytelling you expect from the original creators.

There was a time in my life where the original Shadowgate on NES consumed all of my attention. Friends and I would sit in Biology class drawing maps and comparing notes, then spending the evenings on the phone doing the same. This lasted until the end of the game; it was pretty great.

Naturally, when I heard that there was a remake of Shadowgate coming to Steam, my curiosity was piqued immediately. It was easy to worry though that my fondness of the game only existed in the rose colored glasses of nostalgia. Thankfully, once I got my hands on the remake, I discovered that Shadowgate was in fact a great game and the remake was pretty great in its own right.

I've never been one much for modern adventure games, but Shadowgate seems to be a shining example of the genre. Its packed with some great graphics updates and a great score. The game play proves to be fun too. I was worried that a point and click style adventure game wouldn't hold my attention. Since this game has a good story that gets unveiled the further you journey with hints and clues scattered about the castle, it manages to be pretty engrossing. It's common finding myself coming back to the game sooner than expected just to find out more story. This is a strong trait for a strong adventure game!

Disclaimer: I have never played the original game and played though this one mostly on easy settings.

Major Pros:Great artInteresting puzzles of fair difficulty levelWell planned storyline makes sure players never get too far unintentionally ill preparedNew user interaction methods are fast and easyNo clicking around randomly on every room to find everything (clear markers show all visible interactable objects while secrets are hinted at in gameplay and Yorick can help you if you're stuck)Clever usage of items to solve puzzles

Minor Pros:An easy access log is kept of everything the game tells youHarder modes encourage smart game play with interesting ways to die while easier modes protect inexperienced playersHints (for those that use them) are helpful without directly telling you what to do

Major Cons:Can't use the map to "port" to places you've already been (walking can take a while, especially toward the end of the game)Message pop up on certain rooms that you have to click on to dismiss or you can't keep walking even if you've seen them before

Minor Cons:Spell descriptions are rather vague and result in you trying the spells on everything a lot to figure out what they doThere are some annoying goblins that randomly attack you for no apparent reason, but defeating them is the same every timeMore could've been done to flesh out the story

Even on the easier modes I found the game very enjoyable. The art was nice and the puzzles appropriate and complex. Nothing felt forced in the game and I didn't feel like I'd missed anything by not playing the original game. There wasn't anything that particularly stood out about this game above others in the genre, but I felt it was very solid and enjoyable. The only real annoyance was the time it took to get anywhere which could be a little bit of a problem later in the game when the puzzles spanned more space or were more complex to solve.

Do you remember having a favorite video game that it seemed not many other people fully appreciated? One that you were completely obsessed with, spent tons of time with played over and over again, gathered every bit of information on it that you could? For some people, the games that they find themselves so devoted to end up becoming big series, with numerous sequels. For others, those games get periodic sequels and live on. And for yet others those games just sort of fade away, becoming forgotten in time.

For a while, it seemed that Shadowgate would be one of those games in that last group. Certainly, it was much-loved by a number of people who experienced the original adventure on NES, Macintosh, and PC. And, the series did get some sequels - a side-scrolling adventure game for the TurboDuo, and a 3D exploration game for N64, as well as a port of the original game to the Gameboy Color. But, the series never seemed to receive quite the appreciation that it deserved, and, after those N64 and GBC versions in 1999, the series seemed to slip away. While the series, or mentions of the series, would pop up occasionally, it was never anything significant. And, after a while, it seemed all hope was gone, and the legend of Shadowgate would be lost to the passage of time.

Sometimes, however, all it takes is a few dedicated people to make something happen. And fortunately for the Shadowgate series, it had two extremely dedicated people - Dave Marsh and Karl Roelofs - who had been with the series since the beginning, who still maintained that love for the series after all those years, who wanted to see the series live and thrive again. They surrounded themselves with a great group of talented people at Zojoi, acquired the rights to the Shadowgate franchise, and set out to find if there was still a desire to see Shadowgate live again. And, through the relatively new (especially at the time in 2012) format of Kickstarter, soon found out that there were nearly 3500 people were still passionate about Shadowgate, and wanted to see it brought back to life. And, after over a year and a half of work, that dream finally become a reality, with the new Shadowgate game!

The first thing that should be clarified/emphasized with regards to the new Shadowgate game is that it is not simply a port/remake of the original Shadowgate. While it is based off of the original Shadowgate, and shares similarities with it, there is a significant amount of new content - rooms, items, descriptions, everything that goes into making the game. So, anyone who has played the original who is expecting to simply blow through this game in short order is in for a big surprise.

That said, the new Shadowgate shares much in common with the original, where it is a near certainty that anyone who enjoyed the original will enjoy the new Shadowgate as well. All of the core aspects of a good Adventure game are here. In your journey through the castle Shadowgate and surrounding areas, you will be exploring through a wide variety of locations, gathering hints, clues and information, discovering items and putting them to use, solving puzzles, uncovering mysteries, all while working toward your end goal. The challenge and adventure of Shadowgate is alive and well, and fans of the series will be thrilled to see all of this brought into a new game so well.

For people who are new to the series, or to the genre entirely, the new Shadowgate also provides as an excellent entry point. There are three different difficulties - allowing one to experience the adventure while working through different amounts of puzzles, different challenges, and more forgiving circumstances. There is also an optional hint system in place, where one can make use of a companion to receive information about situations and guidance toward solutions. So, one can start on a level where one is comfortable, and work up through the difficulties and help with those difficulties, until one is a master of the castle.

In bringing Shadowgate to a new generation, new expectations, and new groups of fans, Zojoi have brought the game up-to-speed not only with regards to the puzzles and adventure, but in the graphics and music as well. Each area - old and new - is beautifully illustrated, to make each room come alive. In addition, a wonderful soundtrack has been created for this game, each piece of which which perfectly fits and sets the mood for the rooms and the entire game.

For those with a fondness for the original soundtrack and style of the original game, however, there are a set of options - for audio, text, and transitions - which can be toggled on or off individually, to provide for a more "retro" style of play. The audio allows one to experience either the new soundtrack, or the NES one. The text option causes text to appear letter by letter, drawn by a quill. And, the transition option causes the more blocky style of moving from room to room, as opposed to more blurred option of the newer version. Each of these, depending on one's preference, can either provide for a more "retro" feel on a newer adventure, or allow one to experience an entirely new adventure altogether.

Between the different difficulties, different challenges, new things to explore and discover and overcome on each difficulty, new details to notice, and an intricate story to uncover, as well as the various options for display and experience of the game, there are many reasons to play through Shadowgate multiple times. While it's easy enough to do a quick playthrough of the game on the easiest difficulty with hints, it's a very rewarding experience to play through at the hardest difficulty without any hints. That may be a bit much to tackle the first time through the game, however, even for seasoned Shadowgate veterans, and so going through the game multiple times on different difficulties to uncover increasingly more of the game is highly recommended. Even beyond that, however, the world of Shadowgate is so rich and rewarding that it will continually draw one back into its world, to explore and experience it time and again.

The new Shadowgate game takes as a starting point the original Shadowgate, and builds off of it to bring forth a game which is similar in style, while still modern and up-to-date; a game which has a similar feel, yet doesn't feel archaic; a game which stays true to the roots of the original, while providing a significantly new experience; and which takes a franchise that at one time, and for so long, had seemed lost to the ages and tales of the past, and brings it once more to the forefront of gaming. The new Shadowgate is not meant to merely be a one-off thing either. Having seen the passion and love that still exist for the franchise, Zojoi have plans to bring Shadowgate as a franchise back to life, continuing to combine old and new as old adventures are revived, forgotten tales are brought to the fore, hidden information is revealed, and bright future is once more in sight.

It's not very often that a game like the new Shadowgate comes along. A beautiful blend of old and new, a game which will appeal to fans of the series, fans of the genre, and people new to both of them. A game in a series which for so long had seemed lost and without hope, brought back to life, not in just a simple port or in a cheap use of the name, but in a lovingly-crafted game, both a tribute to what has come before, and a promise of what is to come. Dave Marsh, Karl Roelofs, and everyone at Zojoi, have created a masterpiece with Shadowgate. The series is once more in good hands, and the future is brighter than it has ever been.

If you like puzzles and thinking and potentially being insanely frustrated (in a good way) by the puzzle this is a great game.Let's say you don't like that last part that's okay because they are difficulties, and hints (in all difficulties) to help you!The original was on amiga, Apple2, and NES, but it's not a port, if you played the originals it's a blessing and a curse. (cause your memory works against you in some puzzles but gives you some idea of what to do in others. there are also a lot more puzzles and updates (Think DLC level content) happening all the time) in October a whole new quest is being added included as an update, it's worth the investment to be sure!

I was excited to see yet another old game I played on NES had been remade and released on Steam (the other being Gauntlet)! The original was released in 1989 on the NES, and was a lot of fun (though very difficult) when I played it as a kid.

The new one is just as tough, and has a new and very beautiful art style. A nice soundtrack was made for this as well, though after exploring the options menu I saw there were options to make this game feel more like the original, "retro" Shadowgate. One of those options was to have the old soundtrack play instead! There's other options as well to make it feel more like the old version. They did good there.

So what is this game...well it's an old school point-and-click adventure game. Extremely heavy puzzle elements that will get you killed and/or confused. A lot. There are ways for you to fail this game, without you even knowing it right away too. You'll be unlocking new areas, as well as a fair amount of backtracking. There are also a lot of items to be had, you'll want to get most of them because you never know when they might be of use.

They've introduced some different difficulty settings, and the ability to either play the game with no saves or with the ability to save. Unless you have the hints option on, there's really not much in the way of handholding. And even with the hints, it doesn't really tell you much.

Great game, and worth checking out if you like games that really make you think and pay attention to details.

"It's a sad thing that your adventures have ended here." Get used to reading that.

+A remake of the classic 1987 Shadowgate, but doesn't feel phoned in or a simple cash grab. The game is faithful to the original, but expands greatly upon it.+Fans of the original (and later re-releases, including the popular NES version) will absolutely love the option to choose either the new transitions and music or the original 1987 music and transitions.+The new music pieces are not simply remixes of the original pieces, but rather hauntingly-beautiful retellings.+Game difficulty determines how hard and how long the game is. A puzzle that requires backtracking or multiple steps on Hard will either be simplified or outright removed on Easy.+The game's many causes of death reinforces the idea that you don't need your hand held to have fun.

Cons:

-Whoever thought of the idea for retro graphics mode needs to be fired. The "retro" option simply places a filter over the screen, pixelating everything. Imagine playing a game that runs at a native 1920x1080, then changing the resolution to 320x200. That's how bad it is. Unlike the transitions and the music, it is in no way faithful to the original game.-Unlike the original, the game gives you no indication that your torch is about to go out, leading to an untimely and unexpected death. The NES version had its own music piece to warn you when your torch was about to go out.-Newcomers to the game may be put off by all the trial-and-error they will have to do, as many of the puzzle solutions seem counter-intuitive.

For those fans that loved the old "click and move" games that appeared on the NES; Shadowgate, and the lesser known "Uninvited" title, they should definitely give this one a whirl. Although I feel that this title is not worth 19.99, if its on sale, I would pick it up. The music is completly redone, as well as the graphics, and gives you a more dreaded feel that you are exploring a castle.

Shadowgate was one of those kind of games growing up that expanded my tastes as a gamer back in the NES days, at the time I played it there was very little like it other than the Sierra games like kings quest etc. The game was a puzzle to unravel and navigate and while you would get stumped sometimes, no answer ever felt like it was total off in left field logic answer.

The Redux has plenty to offer a player new and old, but far more for the old. Only people who have played the original get to fully enjoy some of the nods in the redux. How you proceed in the remake has changed greatly from the original and infact what were solutions to problems in the original now kill you in somewhat humorous ways and even offer secret death endings which I greatly enjoyed.

"point and click adventure" is a name that has been slightly tarnished with games that have you find 10 objects on a still screen while a timer ticks down (you know what I am talking about) but shadowgate tells a story and makes you think. Also if you want to just want to enjoy a story theres always guides, so you never feel stuck if you want to just enjoy a tale. I hope to see more of these classic games revived like Deja Vu.

This game enthralled me long enough to finish it on normal mode and I purchased it at a discount, so I'll be fair and give it a "thumbs up". There are quiet a few things you should consider if you plan to buy this, though:

- It's not an RPG in any way regarding skilling, equipping or upgrading your character. You don't have skills, attributes or whatsoever you could manage or upgrade. You can't buy or sell items and all items you find in the game are basically "use item x for adventure element y (e.g. use the only arrow you'll find in the whole game against precisely one specific enemy).- There are no fights in the classical sense. You don't aim or use skills or the like against enemies. You use item x, which is specifically designed to be used in this "fight" on the enemy or another item to win the fight. - There are some clues about what to do, but like in most adventures, you'll end up several times with spamming item x or ability y on everything you can to see if it has any effect. I felt really lost during the late game when I was just running around and trying to figure out where's the chance to progress with the game.- There are NO, I repeat, NO possibilities for alternative ways to get around a challenge. You either stick to the scripted plan of using item a on element b in situation c after you've accomplished event d or you are srewed. That's actually the reason why adventures died out some time ago.- I needed 6 hours to finish the game. That's a pretty short time to play through a game. You can choose to play the game on different difficulties, and I've read that some puzzles are different then. Nonetheless, I consider the replay value of this game to be like the reeat value of a pizza.

If you've played the original Shadowgate (and liked it) or if you're a huge fan of fantasy adventures, you may give this game a try. All others should really think about if they really want to play this game.

A relic from the past has been redone and much to my liking. I love the feel of the new game. A must in my opinion, buy the Special Edition, it truly adds some charm to be able play the old games. I only wish they would have put out the NES version of the game with the Apple version as well, but hey I will take what I can get. This is a complete overhaul of the original classic and let me tell ya, they did a great job to keep us old fans interested. At first I had some challenges figuring out the controls, all of which are explained, but still need some playing with to figure out. The redone visuals are amazing and kept the ambience as I remembered from the original, but add so much more. I find myself enjoyind the new content as much as the original. Good job recreating a very fond memory, now lets see what your next project brings us!!!

I was thrilled beyond words that this game got a more modern remake. This was (and in my opinion, still is) the Dark Souls of point and click puzzle/adventure type games. Everything about this is beautiful, compared to the NES version of it. Being able to turn all of those old settings back to the originals (transitions, music, etc.) gives it a nostalgic feel for those who've played the older version of this game. For me it brings back fond memories of not knowing what I was doing. (I was very young when I tried to play the NES version of Shadowgate)

Do I recomment this game? Definitely. It's pretty damn solid compared to a lot of other games out there.

wow bought because of nostalgia for the old NES game this game is the same but different . really surprised by how much fun it is to still play a point and click adventure game like this ,, really good game lots of fun for such a simple game yeah it's more than worth the sale price

Shadowgate has a nice atmosphere which is achieved by competently drawn backgrounds with small animations here and there and some pretty good music. The puzzles are logical and you get as many hints as you want (or need) to solve them.

Unfortunately, the game is quite short and shortly before the end, you have to do a little fetch quest with a lot of backtracking. I would advise against doing longer breaks between game sessions because of this. Otherwise you may have trouble remembering every place you have been that had the required items you have to collect.

I have never played Shadowgate before and completed the game on easy setting without using any guides, here are my thoughts:

Pro's

> Nice art work and immersive soundtrack.> Challenging but logical and rewarding puzzles.> Good storyline.> Easy to use interface and inventory

Con's

> Some of the art wasn't so well done> One or two puzzles that seemed a bit too cryptic> A couple of annoying things such as lack of fast travel option and having to click out of the same text box each time you enter a room you've entered a 100 times before.

The incredible level of detail shows how much love and care the creators put into remaking this game. It's clearly a product of passion, not just a nostalgia cash-in. The puzzles are familiar yet different, the secrets are plentiful, and the music is stellar. This game completely exceeded every expectation I had. If you ever played the original, even if you barely remember it, you should really give this game a shot.

This is less of a remake and more of a reconstruction from the ground up. For old fans wondering if it recaptures the old shadowgate experience, yes it does, but don't expect to be faced with the same old puzzles we've seen again and again in the previous shadowgate ports. The essence of what makes shadowgate what it once was is still there, but puzzles, map even the story have been rewritten and expanded to make this revival a grander new experience to recapture the attention of old fans and delight the new.

Old fans, as you can see from the screen shots, many iconic rooms from the original are back touched up and modernised in a striking art style. Don't expect them to serve the same purpose they once did though or you will probably get stuck. While the new puzzles are quite challenging the game now has many new modes to curb the difficulty for new players and still provide the hardcore experience for old fans. Achievements unique to different modes and the new unlockable hidden deaths mode which will have you searching for old a new creative ways to kill your character (a homage to old adventure games like kings quest and the original shadowgate) provide an modicum of replayability this genre usually lacks.Race against the clock as each mode gives you only a limited amount of time and resources to reach the end before the world ends or your life is snuffed out, also note the attention given to the new narrative. The plot is much the same as the original but now told in much more detail with written lore, voice acting and stylised cutscenes to give a sense of epicness to your quest to save the world from the dark wizard.Whether you are a fan of the original or just point and click adventure games in general you owe it to yourself to experience this lovingly crafted remake of this much adored classic. The industry needs more remakes like this and the monkey island special editions to offset the influx of shovel ware hidden object games polluting the genre.